One Man Army
by Qualapec the She-Wolf
Summary: After an ill fated raid on a demon warlord's citadel Goku is blinded, Sanzo is injured with a terribly grim prognosis, and Hakkai is missing: presumed dead. Leaving Gojyo alone to deal with an unkown entity that's not so subtlely trying to do him in.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki. I own nothing that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

AN: Please. Stay with me on this. I think my writing gets better as the story progresses and I have a really good idea what I'm doing with it.

One Man Army

The building was on fire, and it wasn't his fault. Gojyo was sweating under the heat coming from all around him; the monkey's extra weight didn't help either. It was a little, tiny thump to the head, why the hell did the monkey have to pass out? The water sprite crouched down to protect his head as a burning rafter swung down and smashed against the wall. As soon as he was sure it was safe, Gojyo rose to his feet and continued on his escape route.

He heard a soft cough come from Goku, and he fought the desire to let the useless little bastard inhale all the smoke he wanted too, then resuscitate him once they got to safety. Then remembered that that would include putting his mouth on Goku's. Gojyo, wanting to avoid that at all costs, took the bandanna off his own sweat/blood soaked head and wrapped it around Goku's mouth and nose. He did it as fast as possible, because as much as he wanted to avoid kissing Goku he wanted to avoid roasting alive even more.

With that done he picked Goku up into a fireman's carry and continued staggering out of the burning building. All the while going over everything he knew about fire, and the structures of buildings. The fire had started in the center, or pretty close to it, and it had already spread to the lowest levels. Gojyo wasn't an architect or anything, but he knew that once the middle level collapsed under the weight of the levels above it then the whole building would come down. With a big demonic citadel like this one then that meant anyone still inside the building when it went down would look something like a flounder by the time someone dug them out.

_He_ was still inside the building.

Stopping only momentarily to get his bearings, he readjusted Goku's weight on his back. Gojyo let his mind wonder only briefly to Sanzo and Hakkai, who had disappeared behind a wall of debris last time he saw them. They'd be fine if the main staircase didn't collapse. As it was, Gojyo had taken the servant's passages. It had been one long, annoying maze, and it had taken longer than the main staircase would have. But fortunately it was sturdy enough, and Gojyo was getting away with minor injuries and burns. He wasn't sure about Goku, but he'd worry about that later. First he had to worry about getting their assess the out of there.

And so, he worried about getting their assess out of there. More importantly he worried about how long it was going to take for this piece of crap building to collapse. That was why when he heard a massive groan resonate through the citadel he was scared shitless. He stopped in shock, his smoke filled breath caught in his throat. The groaning stopped, and he coughed out the breath he'd been holding in. His eyes watered. Seriously, he loved smoking as much as the piss-poor monk, but large amounts of regular smoke had nothing on cigarettes.

Now, with renewed vigor, he broke out into a sprint. The half-breed was glad to find flat ground after he got over the stairs. That meant he was on the lowest level, and he could rejoin the main hall then get the hell out of there. Fortunately he didn't have to trip on demon carcasses that they'd left on the way up the main corridor.

As another groan came from above, Gojyo hit a large door blocking his path. He reached out only to jerk his hand back as fast as he could.

_Shit! The door's burning up._

That could only mean one thing: that there was enough heat coming from the other side to make the door too hot to touch.

Gojyo looked around frantically, but the only way out was either through the door or back up. The building groaned yet again and Gojyo found himself actually debating whether or not being crushed or burned would be a better death. Crushing might be a whole lot quicker, but probably wouldn't leave him with his dastardly good looks. Then again, neither would burning alive

Man. If he ever got out of this he knew he'd need to deal with some serious vanity issues. Here he was about to die and the only thing he could think about was how good he'd look doing it.

_Screw that! I am so not giving up without a fight!_

With that he summoned his shakujo to his hand and began to beat the metal door; repeatedly and with extreme prejudice.

"Open. You. Son. Of. A. Bitch," He said between blows.

Another groan radiated through the building, and Gojyo knew this was it as dust from the ceiling rained down on him. He flung Goku off his shoulders and onto the wall next to the door. Then crouched down over his friend to protect him if any minor chunks of ceiling or worse came down. Although, he knew that if the building collapsed it wouldn't really make any difference. Still he held the boy's already injured head under his chest for dear life.

Gojyo's world diminished into a flurry of crashing, snapping, splintering, groaning, more crashing, dust, thick smoke, and all kinds of brief pains in his head and back. In that moment, as far as he was concerned, it seemed like the world was coming to an end. It seemed just like the big, shiny apocalypse everyone thought would bring Earth's end.

Of course in reality Gojyo knew the world wasn't coming to an end, just his little corner of it.

That's why he was both surprised and grateful when the shaking/crashing/general disaster stopped and he could open his eyes. Which were immediately stung by smoke. Thick, black, smoke that was doing everything in its power to cut out his oxygen. He let off two, wet coughs, and tried to make out his surroundings.

The staircase he'd come down had collapsed; all that was left of it was a burning mass of materials. The disaster stopped just at the place where he and Goku were. For a moment he was just glad to be alive, then remembered exactly what he needed to do.

Gojyo stood up again, picked up his shakujo, and whacked away as hard as was possible on the door. Right then it didn't matter if all that was on the other side was a bonfire. All that mattered was that he either got out of there or died trying. Gojyo was most certainly not about to just curl up and die.

With every moment, his whacks became more desperate. Why did the one truly sturdy part of this goddamned building have to block his escape route?

Now, naturally the door didn't open, no matter how many dents he put into it's side. You see if it had opened that would once and for all disprove his theory that the universe conspired against him, and we just couldn't have that now could we?

He stood back and looked at the door. The bastard wouldn't give. No matter how hard he whacked. On top of everything gods knew it was only a matter of time before the building collapsed again. The second cave in would probably be even more spectacular than its predecessor.

Gojyo looked down at the monkey. He stood there and as he looked at his friend he felt like he'd failed them both.

That moment of weakness was where he reminded himself he hadn't really failed yet.

_Yeah. I'm just really, really, freakin' close._

Then he stared at the door, and wondered why the thing had to be so goddamned stubborn. You'd think the door would want to do something good before it died.

_Heh. The smoke must really be gettin' to me. I'm starting to think about inanimate objects as having feelings._

The half-breed forced his brain to kick into action. He could practically hear the tired, oxygen-deprived gears struggling to turn under the stress.

But his brain came through for him. The door was metal, and not going to brake if he kept waling away on it.

But the wall around the hinges would.

Right. Smashing through the wall might put unnecessary strain on a place that was already a house of cards, but if he just weakened the parts of the wall holding the door in place then he could open the door with minimal structural damage. So he went to work hacking away at the wall, and decided that this was far easier than the door. It took only a matter of seconds to eat away at the walls around it. With a triumphant grin on his face Gojyo delivered one well-placed kick to the door. _Finally_ it fell with a clanging noise. Although, the door apparently wanted to go out in a blaze of glory: literally. A waft of fire flared up from the main hall and Gojyo was hard pressed to put out the fire that was about to take off in his hair (this resulted in a few painful singes on his face). When the fire settled down he realized that the main hall was basically the same as the hallway he'd come down: a mass of burning rubble. It would be tricky, but Gojyo was sure he could do it under the right motivations.

Another groan.

He was motivated.

Stepping through the door way and over the fallen door he then proceeded to chop any bits or pieces that were in his way, all the while hoping he didn't inadvertently cause another catastrophe.

It was only when he saw the large gates that made up the entranceway did he toss caution to the wind and make a run for it. Unlike the stupid metal door, when he ran into the enormous double doors with all his might they flew open. See? That's how a door was supposed to behave!

As a reward he was greeted by sweet, clean air that made him realize how much his lungs had missed it. The next thing he knew he was coughing horribly as he kept running. Deep, wet coughs. For the first time since he'd started he wondered if he actually should quit smoking.

When he couldn't run any more he collapsed in a heap on the ground, Goku tumbling unceremoniously from his shoulder. Gojyo sat there, breathing in the pure air for a moment before sitting up and watching the demonic stronghold burn and burn. He could see how the first time it caved in had affected it. The upper part of it was sagging dangerously downward, and it may not have looked like much from the outside. But Gojyo would bet good money that it looked much worse on the inside.

He tore his eyes away from the disaster site and looked at Goku. Pulling his bandanna from Goku's mouth and nose he checked to make sure the little brat was breathing, and that everything else Goku needed to live was in order. Gojyo was happy to find that Goku was uninjured and breathing normally, aside from the horrible blow to his head. It was a gruesome sight. Dried blood caked around the spot where that warlord bastard had managed one good sucker-punch. It was in a place just under his diadem, where his nose met with his forehead.

As soon as that was settled Gojyo leaned backward and rested on that ground.

_Damn. I hope the others find us soon..._

After that last, hazy thought, he drifted off into darkness. Not entirely sure whether he passed out or really fell asleep.

VVVVV

By the time Gojyo awoke it was a whole lot darker, the only light came from the earlier fire, which by now had collapsed into nothing but a smoldering pile. It looked nothing like the tower it used to be.

His lungs seemed to be working right, but his throat felt like he'd just swallowed a handful of charcoal. The burns on his cheek stung and his boots looked like hell from when he'd been maneuvering through the main corridor and had been forced to literally walk on fire for a second or two. On top of everything he had a splitting headache, the kind you got the morning after drinking a whole bottle of whiskey the night before. That was probably just the feel of his brain cells dying off. Gojyo couldn't help but smile as he thought about the crack Sanzo would make about that.

Speaking of which, where the hell were they? Surely they would have found them by now?

A sudden 'kyu' came from the air above him. Gojyo looked up just in time to see a familiar tiny dragon land on his face. This irritated the burns on his cheek from where his hair had caught fire. "Hey!" He grabbed Hakuryu and held the tiny animal in front of him, "Does my face look like a landing strip to you?"

He was rewarded with another kyu, he didn't know why, but something about it sounded wrong. Distressed even. "Besides, what are you doing here? Where the hell..." He trailed off.

The dragon looked up at him.

"No..." He cast his gaze back to the smoldering ruins of the stronghold, then back to Hakuryu. "No..."

Hakuryu just looked at him. Intelligent eyes filled with pain, loss...

...and Gojyo would have sworn they were even the slightest bit accusatory.

"Oh no..." He looked back at the burning building. There was no way, no way in _hell_. They had the easy way out. It was a straight shot to the door, they could have easily gotten out of there in half the time Gojyo did, which meant way before the first cave in. "Oh no..."

"Oh..." Unless they ran into more demons. Demons were easy, but time consuming, the more he thought about it Gojyo realized it wasn't entirely unreasonable that they were still inside when the building when it went down, "..._fuck_!"

Throwing the dragon off his chest he flew to his feet and sprinted over to the rubble. God...please let him be wrong. Please let the stupid dragon be wrong. Shouldn't this have occurred to him earlier? Was he so preoccupied with himself the thought didn't even cross his mind that they might have still been in there?

No. He had no way of knowing they decided to play hop-scotch on the way down. They had it _easy_. As soon as he hit the ruins Gojyo tripped over a stray piece of wall, he totally ignored the stinging sensations and bruises on his front. The place still smelled thickly of smoke. And after being clean for such a long time that was all it took to get his eyes watering and his throat stinging again. But he was too focused on finding his friends to worry about his own little pains. "Hakkai! Sanzo!" he called out into the mess.

"Hakkai! Sanzo! Damn it. If you can hear me say something!" The only reply he got was the sound of fires that hadn't died yet. "Hell, shoot at me for all I care!"

Again, nothing.

Gojyo forced himself to stay calm, that didn't mean they were dead at all. It just meant they were unable to respond. Which could mean a lot of things in and of itself.

God. What had he done?

_No! I can't be blamed for this. This isn't my fault. This isn't my fault. It isn't like I started the damn fire or anything..._

At least he didn't think he started the fire.

Bang!

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a gunshot from a very familiar gun. That same gun that was fired at or near him every day for the last nine months. But he didn't feel the whiz of a bullet, so it was probably fired into the air.

Gojyo spun around, "Sanzo!" He yelled, then remembered that Hakkai could just be using the gun, "Hakkai!"

A second gunshot rang through the night. But Gojyo's head was spinning so badly he could barely pinpoint where it came from. It wasn't until the third gunshot that he finally got a general idea of where the shooter was. Somewhere to the right. So there he went, careful not to sprain an ankle in his hurry. By the time the fourth gunshot came around he saw a flash of blond hair and the glint of metal.

By the time Gojyo found his way over there Sanzo was firing a fifth shot into the air. "Sanzo!" Gojyo said, but as soon as he got close to the moody blond, he wished he hadn't. For one thing as soon as Sanzo saw him he aimed his banishing gun at Gojyo. To tell the truth Gojyo wasn't entirely comfortable looking down the barrel of that gun at dilated purple eyes. For another thing...Sanzo was a wreck. The monk was pinned by a large piece of wall. Everything from his hips down must have been crushed. Small trickles of blood came from Sanzo's nose and mouth. There was a green and blue bruise on the side of his face, and his blond hair was caked with blood, no doubt the cause of the dilated pupils. A concussion did that to a person. "Sanzo?" Gojyo asked worriedly afraid that in a confused state Sanzo might actually shoot him, "It's me. Sha Gojyo?"

The sixth shot was fired, missing Gojyo's head by inches. Sanzo spoke, "I...know..."

Any anger at the priest instantly vanished as more blood spilled from Sanzo's mouth and onto the ground and he laid there, exhausted just from that effort. He was struggling for breath on top of everything else, it seemed. "Damnit..." Gojyo said, "God, Sanzo. The building collapsed-"

"No...fucking duh..."

Gojyo made his way over to the priest, that had been six shots, and the priest looked like he couldn't even lift his head any more. So Gojyo assumed it was safe to move in and try to help. He took off his leather coat, "Sanzo, could you just not be a bitter smart ass for a few minutes?"

"May...be...if the mood...strikes me." More blood came from his mouth.

"Don't talk."

"Keeps me...awake..."

Gojyo nodded as he placed the coat under Sanzo's head, "Fair enough. So if you have to talk why don't you tell me what happened?"

"Didn't we...already...establish that?"

"You guys had a clear shot for the exit. What happened that took so long?"

"Demons...what else?" Sanzo winced suddenly. "When...the first collapse came...we were pinned...Hakkai...did everything he could...but...we...were separated..."

Gojyo knew Sanzo would have to be in extreme pain, and on the verge of passing out. "Just hang on."

Sanzo made an odd snort-like sound that turned into a cough, in which more blood came up. It didn't take a genius to know that Sanzo was bleeding internally. But this wasn't actually going to kill him was it? Cummon. This was Sanzo. The man he'd seen neutralize the Seiten Taisei with scorpion venom pumping through is veins. "Sanzo? Hey," He reached down and lightly slapped Sanzo's cheek, "Stay with me. Where's Hakkai?" He needed to find Hakkai, if the healer was in any shape at all then he could at least help Sanzo some.

"...Naturally...you...want...your boyfriend-"

"Shut up," He was tired of the wise cracks about his relationship with Hakkai. Didn't anybody see that it would be like screwing his brother? "Be careful, I might start making jokes about the monkey and you." He shot back half-heartedly. For obvious reasons the banter held more weight than it normally did.

Sanzo gave him a killing look and dry fired his gun. "I...I don't know...where he is...he just disappeared in...the chaos..."

Gojyo brought a hand up to his head as he looked at the mortally wounded priest. Wait? Mortally wounded? No. Sanzo was not gonna die from this. Shit! Why couldn't he have just gone back inside? Why did he feel the sudden need to take a goddamned nap?

No. No. No. No. This wasn't his fault.

This wasn't his fault.

This wasn't his fault.

Sanzo stared up at him; Gojyo supposed the monk didn't really have the ability to speak any more. He was fading too quickly, lots of blood loss. It was a miracle he'd managed to stay conscious as long as he had.

This wasn't his fault. How could it be? He'd been exhausted, there was no freakin' way he could have known they weren't already outside.

Sanzo's eyes rolled back up into his head as his eyelids shut. Gojyo could only pray it wasn't for the last time.

Holy shit...

This was _not_ his fault...

VVVVV Chapter end

AN: Okay. What do you think. I'm a little worried that Gojyo went a little out of character towards the end. I think it gets kind of iffy. Anyway please, R&R.


	2. Chapter 2

Dislcaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

AN: Wow. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it, and I hope this chapter does just as good a job as the last one. Please, enjoy.

One Man Army

There is a certain point in which frantic emotion has to turn into an exercise in mental capability. In other words no matter what shocking thing happens, your first reaction will always be some kind of emotion. But at some point your brain has to kick into gear and do its job. When your brain kicks in varies from person to person.

For Gojyo his brain decided to kick in by telling him: "You gotta move your ass or Sanzo's going to die." when the monk passed out.

And so, listening to his brain, he dropped down and checked Sanzo's pulse. The older man's heartbeat was frantic and weak, but present. That was about as good as it was going to get for a while. Gojyo debated whether or not to lift the wall off the monk, or wait until he found Hakkai and do it with the other man's help.

But that was a hellova gamble, one that relied solely on his ability to find Hakkai. There was always the chance that Hakkai was just as injured as Sanzo. Or that by the time he found Hakkai, Sanzo would be dead anyway. Or he wasted a whole truck load of time while trying to find Hakkai who was probably buried under a couple tons of rubble, and Sanzo died while he was waiting.

There were too many what-ifs. Gojyo hated those.

Then he remembered that he had help within calling distance. Not Goku, the monkey had still been passed out when he'd woken up. "Hakuryu!" he called to the tiny dragon, hoping he could be heard. "Cummon...cummon..."

He was about to let out another call when he heard a 'kyu' above his head as the dragon perched on his shoulder. Then it occurred to him that the little guy must have been flying overhead and looking for Hakkai. Then it occurred to him that it was a good thing Hakuryu wasn't shot the way he was flying around in the air above where Sanzo had been firing. "Alright, Hakuryu, I need you to listen to me very carefully..."

VVVVV

"Hakuryu! Pull harder!"

The whine of wheels spinning pointlessly in the dirt was the loudest noise in the small area. Closely followed by the painful grunts of a half-breed who realized the piece of wall was a lot heavier than it looked. He didn't think he would have been able to lift this, even with Hakkai's help. Hakuryu was barely keeping any ground he gained, and Gojyo kept worrying he was going to have an aneurysm if he kept pushing as hard as he was. But it wasn't like he was about to let the wall fall back onto Sanzo, so he kept pushing and pushing.

"Stupid wall...must be related to that stupid door..."

Gojyo had long ago admitted that the universe conspired against him, his actions in that moment were based on the fact he didn't believe the universe conspired against Sanzo. If anything the luck the universe robbed Gojyo of was given to the monk as extra. Sanzo had survived so much. If Sanzo had been anyone else Gojyo probably would have just made him comfortable and given them to the gods. Then gone off and looked for Hakkai, who could still be saved.

The half-breed had a plan. Hakuryu knew the way to town, and it wasn't so far that Hakuryu couldn't manage it himself. Gojyo planned to let the dragon drive Sanzo and Goku to the doctor and he'd stay behind until he found Hakkai. It seemed like a good plan, something a smart person would come up with.

He strained against the wall. His muscles burning in spite of Hakuryu's assistance. Gojyo had to move his (ruined) boots frequently to maintain the grip he had, "Just a little farther!" He called to Hakuryu.

Hakuryu gave him a metallic 'kyu' before the sound of the engine pushing even harder. The wheels whined as they spun on the ground. They were so close! With one final push the wall toppled over with a crash.

Panting, Gojyo dropped like a rock onto the wall he'd just flipped, taking only a moment to breathe before sitting up and checking Sanzo. Breathing. Heart beat. Good. Even under his robes Gojyo could see that Sanzo's legs were broken in several places, and after running a hand along Sanzo's spine he could have sworn he felt an abnormality. But Sanzo was feeling pain earlier, right? So it couldn't be that bad.

There was no room for debate on whether or not he was going to make it worse by moving Sanzo. He just kept reminding himself that if he didn't pack Sanzo into the jeep then he would die. So, Gojyo picked Sanzo up, struggling to ignore the sounds of cracking bones as he did so. With every cracking, snapping sound Gojyo felt like throwing up. Once again he was forced to remind himself that he had no control over this.

He laid Sanzo along the front seats, and tapped Hakuryu's side. "Good job, little buddy," He then hopped into the drivers seat; he had to move Sanzo's torso so he rested on Gojyo's lap. Hitting the gas, Hakuryu took off back in the direction they'd come in. They had to be careful driving over the rubble. There had been times since Hakkai had first gotten Hakuryu that Gojyo wished the dragon could turn into a muscle car or something he could use to pick up the ladies with. As the four-wheel drive vehicle moved around the precarious wreckage Gojyo was appreciative that the transformation was a Jeep.

When they got to the open land surrounding the citadel, they sped up a little over to where Goku was. Gojyo hopped out and placed Goku in the back seat. The monkey was still unconscious? Ah well, wasn't like it mattered, he'd get to a doctor soon anyway. He tapped Hakuryu's hood, "Alright. You haul ass to town now, y'hear me?"

A metallic wail came from the inside. Gojyo could understand the dragon. Not as well as Hakkai, however the point got across. Hakuryu didn't want to leave Hakkai, who somehow he knew must have still been buried somewhere.

"I know, I know. But that's why I'm sendin' you. Just make sure they're in good hands then come back and give me a hand. But not until they're safe, got it?" he felt like he was talking to a child.

There was another 'kyu'. And a sense came over Gojyo, like he was forgetting something...

"Ah!" He exclaimed, as he reached down and grabbed the scripture from Sanzo's shoulders. Sanzo wouldn't be happy about that when he woke up, but Gojyo wasn't about to let some untrustworthy doctor nab one of the founding scriptures of heaven and earth. And when Sanzo woke up he could feel free to yell at Gojyo about it all he wanted. "Alright, now get them there five minutes ago."

With that said, Hakuryu took off in a cloud of dust in the general direction of town.

Gojyo gave a stressed out sigh as he ran a hand through his hair to quell the rising headache. The nausea soon followed. He very well knew he could spend the next few hours sifting through rubble only to dig out the corpse of his best friend...

VVVVV

Hazel Grouse only moved fast when he needed to. As an exorcist he'd been combating the forces of darkness his entire life, so he was capable of moving quickly, and his robes were designed for it. But after a whole day of walking in boots that just weren't made for it the last thing he expected was to be run-over by the stupid little jeep of Sanzo's. Or, more accurately he believed the little shape shifter belonged to Hakkai. Whoever owned the little fella he almost managed to run him over.

Here he had been strolling out of the hotel for an evening walk when the next thing he knew the jeep barreled out of nowhere and almost smacked him when it did a doughnut in the main street. The bishop had been forced to dive out of the way or else get turned into road-burger. Almost as soon as he was picking himself out of the dirt, Gat was by his side and offering a hand. "What kind o' lousy drivin' is that?"

"The kind without a driver," Gat said emotionlessly. Hazel cast his glance upward and, sure enough, the driver's seat was empty. At least at first glance, as he approached he could make out two forms in the car. One in front, one in back. Sanzo, and his companion, Goku, neither looked in great shape. Even from where he was Hazel could tell they were unnaturally pale, and he could hear Sanzo's labored breaths.

"Oh dear," Hazel said and crossed himself, "Gat, make sure they're comfortable. I'll fetch the healer."

"Of course."

Hazel strode over to the doctor's home. Just two days ago he'd resurrected the doctor's grandson. Son of the man's daughter; lovely woman. In any case he supposed the doctor would feel enough gratitude to take on a charity case. From what he'd seen of the man trying to save his grandson, Hazel would assume that Sanzo and Goku would be getting the best available care.

_And if not..._he thought as he fingered the golden pendant, remembering that he had two whole souls in the amulet, just itchin' to be used.

VVVVV

Gojyo was going through the wreckage. Clouds covered the moon; his search was only guided by the light from the fires that refused to die down. The smoke was still pretty bad, so he'd been forced to wrap his bandana around his own nose and mouth to at least keep some of the particles out. He'd heard a wet cloth worked better, but Hakuryu had their water, so until the little dragon got back he'd just have to make do with what he had.

That's another thing...With all this smoke, Hakkai could have easily died by smoke inhalation now, if he was buried with limited oxygen as it was.

_It can't be that easy, can it? Next to Sanzo, Hakkai is the most resilient bastard I know. After all the crap he's lived through isn't that kind of anticlimactic? He just not to long ago got over his 'I wanna die doing the right thing' stage. After four years he wants to live again, how could some sicko god take that away from him?_

As soon as he thought it he couldn't believe the thought had even crossed his mind. After all the crap _he'd_ been through shouldn't he know that the gods didn't save anyone? No matter how anticlimactic or pathetic their death would be.

_That's right, it doesn't matter to the gods if someone's stupid, dick of a friend didn't go back into a fire for them..._

It. Was. Not. His. Fault. Gojyo just wished that stupid little 'what if' voice in his head would accept that. In a logical world there was nothing he could have done. That building would have collapsed with him inside too. Nobody would have been there to pull a chunk of wall off of Sanzo's sorry ass. And nobody would have been there to make sure his injured friends got to safety. What would have happened to Goku if he'd just thrown caution to the wind and ran back inside like a hero or something? Besides, had he even been capable of going back inside? Gojyo still wasn't entirely sure whether he'd just fallen asleep or passed out.

Why did guilt make you beat yourself up over something you had no goddamned control over? And why did it make you feel like the bad guy just for trying to reason with it?

As he made his way through the rubble considering different outcomes and desperately trying to reason with the unreasonable feeling the first second SCUD missile of the day slammed into him in the form of a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.

A shiny surface, glass. Small...round glass.

Gojyo's sprinted over to the spot where he'd spied it. As soon as he found it his heart practically stopped.

_Oh god..._

It was Hakkai's monocle. It was cracked. It was covered in blood. But it was Hakkai's monacle.

Slowly, he reached down and fingered it. The blood was dried, and a large spider crack spread throughout the glass.

Gojyo almost felt like crying. For the first time the pure hopelessness of finding his friend alive hit him.

"Damnit," he cursed. He felt like shit.

_If that isn't so goddamn typical of me? Hakkai could be dead...and here I am wallowing in self-pity._

Heh. Gojyo almost laughed at that. If he knew Hakkai at all the healer wouldn't stand for any kind of pity, either it be self or focused on him. Hakkai was-

Well, shit, here he was already using the past tense.

Sitting there like a space cadet Gojyo was unprepared when the second SCUD missile of the day slammed into his chest...

The second quite a bit more literal than the first.

VVVVV

Hazel was sitting on the couch in the doctor's house. The man lived above his office, and Hazel supposed that since his family was so small he could afford it. The doctor's daughter came into the room carrying a cup of tea. She'd been through a lot; the poor lady had just lost her husband in a demon raid. Unfortunately Hazel hadn't been able to do anything seeing as how the boy's body had lost its form. The way it was torn to shreds...

However, he had shown up in time to resurrect the very same two year old playing on the floor at that moment. Poor little thing came down with a nasty flu, closely followed by pneumonia. He'd saved the boy, and as a favor the man downstairs was working quite hard to save his two associates.

"Mr. Hazel?" The young woman asked, as though to keep from disturbing him, "My father says the boy with the power limiter should be fine, but we won't know the extent of the brain damage until he wake up."

Hazel nodded, as much as he was loyal to his crusade against demons, he'd found that Goku was really more human than anything else. Quite the child, he doubted he could hate the young man entirely even if he tried. The bishop silently thanked the lord that at least Goku would live. "And the Sanzo priest?"

The girl shifted uncomfortably, "My father is working to find the source of the bleeding as we speak. The insides of his legs are torn to shreds by the broken bones, he'll probably have a limp for the rest of his life, if he walks at all."

"But he _will_ live, won't he?"

"It depends on how quickly my father can find the source of the internal bleeding...and if there are any complications from the concussion. There is also the slight chance of a blood clot forming in his leg and causing problems of its own."

Hazel brought the tea to his lips and drank, "Thank you. I know you're trying your hardest."

"But, with all do respect, Bishop."

"Yes?"

"If they died couldn't you just bring them back?"

"Yes. I could, but it's always preferable to have your own, original body as opposed to a reanimated one."

"Of course," The girl said, "Excuse my foolishness."

Hazel smiled, "No foolishness to it, child. I suppose to a nurse such as you it would make very little sense not to ease someone of their sufferin' if the opportunity presented itself...but to me, I must go along with god's plan."

She smiled, "Right. Please, Bishop, if you need anything just ask."

He gave her a sweet smile just as Gat rumbled into the room. "Well," Hazel said, "What do you think about this?"

"I think it's very unusual to have the dragon without its partner near by..."

"Yes, it does seem they sent the wounded to town...do you think they're off fightin' somethin' all by their lonesome?"

"It is likely. Considering the severity of Sanzo, and Goku's injuries. So what do we do?"

"The dragon's already flown back to wherever it came from."

"I could track the tire marks back."

Hazel pondered it. As much as he hated to have his bodyguard part from his side, he wanted to help. It couldn't be a coincidence that they were there at the moment that Sanzo's party is battling some kind of evil force, "Very well. I'll remain here, just in case my services are required."

"You sound like a saloon girl when you speak like that..." Gat said uncomfortably. There was a certain feeling of pride that overcame Hazel whenever he knew he'd made the much larger man uneasy.

VVVVV

This SCUD missile didn't feel quite as figurative as his first reference. This SCUD missile caught him full force in the stomach and with enough force to send him flying into a burned piece of debris. Said debris broke as soon as he hit it, helping to break his fall. A dazed and confused Gojyo only looked up in time to see a massive form raising its arms to smash a large...club-like thing exactly where Gojyo rested. His body registered the threat before his brain did, and by the time his brain caught up he was already up and moving. The club came down as Gojyo spun to the side and summoned his shakujo. "Dude," He said, "You picked the wrong day to mess with me."

This was actually quite fortunate, here he was getting all frustrated and angsty when right here in front of him was an assassin. Wow, just when he needed something to take his crap out on along comes...

...a really, really, really big guy.

At first glance he thought it was that bishop's personal meat shield. When he got a good look he realized discouragingly that this guy was quite a bit bigger than Gat. And it was all muscle. As an example this guy's neck was about as big as Gojyo's waist. His skin had an ugly green tinge to it. Not even a healthy green like _The Incredible Hulk_, but a sickly, light green. The creature's hair was tied back into dread-locks, with markings on his face that looked oddly like demon birthmarks. But for some reason Gojyo just wasn't getting a demonic vibe from this guy.

What the hell was he? 

The half-breed didn't have time to ponder it further as the goon charged him swinging a club that was as long as Gojyo was, and as wide as he was at the shoulders. Also, Gojyo would never again buy that bullshit about how big guys were slow. This guy was _fast_. Gojyo barely had time to dodge the third onslaught. At one point Gojyo ducked in, under the beast-man's attack and into his inner circle, from here Gojyo would have a clear shot of his neck and head. He swung the blade of his shakujo with all his might, connecting on the guy's face.

A sudden sizzling sound came from where the shakujo connected with his face, as though the shakujo were white-hot. But instead of recoiling or any such thing the creature's face became distorted in anger.

This was it. He was a dead man.

"Uh...You don't appear to be too happy-ack!" His nervous-sarcasm -speech was cut off abruptly as large hands clasped around his neck and lifted him off the ground as though he didn't weigh anything. "Really," He said, wasting what little air he had on pissing this guy off, "I'm sorry I messed with your perfect complexion."

The creature's eyes burned with pure, unadulterated hate. In that moment it was very obvious he wanted to kill Gojyo in the worst of ways.

"Don't worry," Gojyo said again, even though he was gasping for breath, "I'm sure your boyfriend will still love you."

Gojyo was slammed into the ground so hard what little air that was left was knocked from his lungs and his eyesight danced with sunspots. The hands were loosened just enough for him to get a breath before he was lifted into the air again. His hands gripped the beast-man's wrists, desperately trying to take some of the weight off his neck.

"Tell me," _Hulk_ said, "Where is the scripture?"

"...Ah, say that again. I couldn't hear you through the sound of your voice."

The hands squeezed down tightly on his throat, tight enough that he had to spit out blood from somewhere. He wasn't sure from where though, his whole neck hurt.

"Tell me, little man, or I pop you head like grape."

"Oh? A man of great language skills, are we?"

A murderous gleam shone in the man's eyes again.

He would astonish a psychologist. It had long been known that some things people would do anything for in order to survive. Food, water, shelter. It was widely known that these basic needs overwhelmed everything else. Ultimately linked with the need to live.

But it seemed there was one need in Gojyo that superceded his most primal wants: his need to be a smart ass.

VVVVV Chapter end

AN: Alright! We're gettin' into the action! Please, R&R and share your opinion.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

One Man Army

Gojyo was in very serious trouble. He realized that maybe he shouldn't have wasted his air on saying things that hurt the big-guy's feelings.

_When the hell is my mouth gonna learn to check in with my brain?  
_

When some people were nervous, they ate or played Sudoku, Gojyo said things he probably shouldn't. This became apparent as his vision became flecked with darkness. He knew he had to do something. To his right hand he summoned his shakujo and dug the crescent-moon blade deep into the beast-man's neck. Hoping to get some blood. A sizzling sound came from wherever the blade touched, followed closely by the smell of burning flesh.

All Gojyo got in return was to smash to the ground again.

This time he knew for sure that he passed out.

VVVVV

Gojyo must have woken after only a few minutes because big-and-ugly was still glowering over him. "Now tell me, little man. Where is scripture?"

"Huh?" Gojyo's mind was too much of a slurry to come up with anything widely smart or outrageous. But still he wasn't about to just hand over the Maten Scrpture to this nutcase.

Gojyo tapped into his energy reserves. Well, he didn't necessary have energy reserves so much as gathering the will to rise. When big-and-ugly made a dive for Gojyo's neck again was when his body decided to get moving. He missed another chokehold by literal mili-inches. The half-breed rose to his feet, and once again summoned his shakujo.

_Third time's a charm, right?_

From where he was he flung the chained blade over his shoulder like a fishing rod, finally it seemed that the blade did it's job and at least broke the skin. This was followed by that same burning sound. It must have been something in the shakujo that the guy had a weakness too.

Well, whatever it was it mustn't have been much of a weakness because the next thing Gojyo knew big-_mean_-and-ugly had grabbed a hold of the chain with both hands (despite the smoke already coming from them) and ripped it out of Gojyo's hands before he could blink. Gojyo gave a nervous smile, "Oops."

Uh oh. This guy must have known that the shakujo was a bound weapon.

Years before he was born his father had made a pact with a fiend of the lower plain. Nothing like the pact that Kougaiji had with his fiend or anything, otherwise Gojyo would have roasted this guy by now. But basically the rule was that when his sons came of age they would never be defenseless. Dokugakuji's sword was also a product of that deal.

And as long as someone was holding on to it, the shakujo wouldn't return to energy form. The bastard was a whole lot smarter than he sounded.

"You know nothing?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about..." a very smooth lie, even by Gojyo's standards. Perfect balance of desperation and weariness.

The large man reached down and picked up his equally large club. "Very well then, little man."

Gulp.

Gojyo did the one logical thing: he ran the hell away!

The half-breed leapt hastily over bits and pieces of rubble, praying that he didn't misjudge and break his leg. He didn't bother to look behind him, the whatever-the-hell-it-was behind him just barreled through anything that got in his way. The obvious sign that the much larger man was getting closer were when the crashing sounds got louder.

A sudden sense overwhelmed Gojyo, the same kind of sense from when Hakuryu was trying to communicate something. This time it screamed: DUCK!!! In big neon red letters. Being one to listen to his gut instinct he dove just as that large club shot over his head. If that thing had actually hit him it would have broken his spine...

"Hey!" Gojyo yelled, suddenly angry through the shock, "Those things are for _hitting_! You don't throw a fucking club!" His thoughts briefly lingered to a time when he'd said the exact same thing to Sanzo about his paper fan.

Either beast-man didn't care, or he didn't care because he kept running toward Gojyo with all his might.

_Does today suck for Scorpios or what?_

He was up and on his feet running again before the creature came within distance to grab him again. But his little pause had helped the larger creature gain distance on Gojyo.

"This guy must be on steroids from goddamned _Krypton_!"

Almost as soon as he finished saying it something hit him from the side, small and concentrated, but enough to topple him to the ground. A confused Gojyo saw the troll of a man swinging the shakujo by its chain, looking like the immense physical pain he must have been in didn't even bother him.

Damnit! The bastard had hit him from a distance with his own goddamned weapon!

The troll-man came up to Gojyo.

The troll-man raised a foot to squash him.

The troll-man was really quite the blockhead and wasn't ready for when Gojyo jumped up, grabbed his foot, and pushed him backwards.

"Timber!" Gojyo shouted as the guy went down with an enormous thud noise. Giving Gojyo time to pick up his shakujo. "Well wouldn't ya know it it's true. 'The bigger they are the harder they fall'."

Gojyo knew staring into the beast-man's eyes that he wanted to kill Gojyo after this, he'd literally toppled the man's honor and he felt that he had to do everything possible to make sure Gojyo paid dearly for it. Although he was smug from his small victory, Gojyo couldn't contain the shivers that ran down his body from head to toe.

"Hakuryu!" He called, and hoped that his fear wasn't too apparent in his voice.

The big man wasn't coming, just glaring death at him. If looks could kill...

"Little man," He boomed, "I will kill you."

Gojyo gave a nervous smile as the jeep pulled up by itself, "Sorry bub, you'll have to stand in line."

As much as he hated to leave Hakkai's body behind, he wanted to live even more, and he wasn't about to risk his life by hanging around there...just to look for a corpse.

_"Just to look for a corpse"? Is that it? Am I really proclaiming him dead?_

He knew he might as well. It was a miracle that Sanzo had survived the building's fall, and even if Hakkai had survived the initial collapse then by now he would have either died of smoke inhalation or his injuries. In a logical world there was no need to hang around.

_Logic. Is that really it? Or does this guy just scare me shitless and I'm coming up with excuses not to stay?_

It was probably one of the hardest decisions he'd ever had to make, but Sha Gojyo climbed in the Jeep and took off like a bat out of hell.

VVVVV

They were speeding down the road by the time Hakuryu tried to connect with him again.

With a single 'kyu' feelings that were quite similar to his own overwhelmed him again. Such as loss, pain, guilt.

"I know, I hate to leave Hakkai behind too...But is there really any way he's alive?"

Warmth flowed over him, reserves of strength.

"Yeah, Hakkai is one of the strongest people I know but...A goddamned building fell on his face. Even Sanzo barely survived."

An absence of warmth. And Gojyo found himself thinking of the violet-eyed monk.

"...Sanzo's strong too...he won't die."

He could almost hear the little dragon's thoughts. Basically saying: "You try to convince yourself for god-only-knows what reason that Hakkai is dead? But you tell yourself that Sanzo will survive his injuries without a doubt?" To Gojyo, that was the English equivalent to the thoughts he got from Hakuryu.

"I know. Maybe I am being stupid about this...But I don't wanna risk my life for a dead body..."

There he went again, assuming Hakkai was dead.

When tears began to form on his crimson eyes, Gojyo tried to tell himself it was just the dragon again...

VVVVV Chapter End

AN: Sorry. Short chapter. But please tell me what you think via review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

One Man Army

When Gojyo first saw Gat, the larger man gave him one hell of a start. For one thing he was barreling down the road at seventy miles an hour and did not expect the overgrown jughead of a bodyguard to pop up right smack dab in the middle. For another thing for a moment he thought it was that _Hulk_ wannabe come back to finish the job. He barely managed to swerve the car to the side, cranking the wheel heavily to the right to pull the Jeep into a 180 degree skid. The car came to a sudden stop and Gojyo was slammed back into his seat.

Hakkai had only once tried to teach him evasive driving, and for the life of him Gojyo still couldn't figure out how Hakkai could pull a car into a turn like that without throwing up. Gojyo had been hard pressed as it was to keep his lunch down after the really shitty day he'd had. Driving like Hakkai's spirit had possessed him almost pushed the food in his stomach out through the top.

"Hey!" he yelled at Gat, "What's the big idea?"

"I see no difference is made whether or not somebody is actually behind the wheel…"

"Say what?" Gojyo could practically hear Sanzo chastising him for the question that probably seemed obvious to everyone but him. God he'd had a really shitty day.

"Your vehicle almost hit Hazel when it pulled into town."

Gojyo couldn't contain his crocodeilian smile. Finally! Something to give him a laugh. "Heh. Did he now?" Gojyo warmly patted Hakuryu's dashboard, "Good dragon."

The (semi) joke was lost on Gat, who just continued to stare stonily at him.

_Jeesh! Tough crowd tonight._

"You'll be happy to know that we got Sanzo and Goku to a doctor."

"Uhh. You gonna tell me how they're doin' or keep me in suspense?"

"Goku will be fine."

Gojyo hoped the sudden clench in his chest didn't show on his face, "Yeah…what about Sanzo?"

"The doctor is working as we speak…"

"Uh, huh. And let me guess: that jack preacher friend of yours is hovering around getting ready to do what he does?" Gojyo ran a hand through his crimson hair. Just when he thought his day couldn't possibly get any worse. Here comes the pretty boy with a saint complex and his overly serious bodyguard. Gat was the only one who didn't seem to that loosing the loopy bastard would be a _good_ thing.

"If by ressurect your friend should the moment come then, yes. He decided to remain behind just in case."

Gojyo sighed, "Somehow I get the feeling Sanzo's not gonna be very happy if he wakes up dead…"

_But he'll live either way now, won't he? And now that Hazel's in the area, it means there's more time to find Hakkai. As long as his body hasn't lost its form Hazel should be able to resurrect him. So what if they'll be more…dirt like…they'll be alive. Isn't that what matters?_

Almost as soon as he thought it, he felt like even more shit than he did to begin with. If he knew Hakkai at all, then he would rather die than live like that. Sanzo might be okay with it, after a while, but Hakkai had a prideful streak. And when it flared up standing in front of it was like trying to mow the African wilderness.

That prideful streak had flared up against Hazel. Even if Hakkai would be able to live as a reanimated corpse he wouldn't live with being indebted to the bishop.

Pride was a depressing thing when dealing with life and death…He didn't want to lose his best friend, but it would be selfish of him not to respect said friend's wishes.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean…"

"I'm not surprised," Gojyo sighed again, "Hop in the back, it'd be impolite not to give you a ride back to town."

For the first time in known history there was a, gasp, intelligent look in Gat's eyes. As though something just occurred to him, "Where is Cho Hakkai?"

Damn. Why did Gojyo have to be polite? Of course he'd notice the abesense of the healer. Gojyo just didn't want to talk about it, "I don't know for sure but…I don't think…"

"He's died?"

"I…" Gojyo felt choked up as soon as Gat said it. He'd admitted to himself all night that Hakkai was probably dead. But to hear another person actually say it. That was hard to say the least. He brought up a hand to quell his rising headache, and to very discretely wipe away his tears. "I don't know…But I just can't see how he could have survived."

"Perhaps we should go back. Hazel could-"

"Pull his holy head out of his ass?"

"-Bring your friend back."

Gojyo, not understanding why he hadn't done this before, lit up a cigarette, "He'd be even less happy about waking up dead than Sanzo would."

"You keep saying awakening as we are is a bad thing."

Great. He'd hurt the big-guy's feelings. He felt like a real super-hero now.

"To them, it would be. Maybe to a single mother, a little kid, or…" Gojyo dared a look at Gat, "…a tyrannosaurus."

If Gat understood the remark to his size, he didn't show it, just continued on like he had, "Then we should at least find his body."

"Uhh. That could be a problem."

"Why?"

Gojyo told him, happy to get the subject off the friend he'd been forced to abandon.

Gat nodded, listening the entire time, "It sounds like a creature of Fae…"

Gojyo blinked, "You mean to tell me that that big son of a bitch back there was a goddamn _faerie_?"

The larger man nodded as though it was the most common thing in the world. "No…a creature of Fae. Specifically a troll. From the hair and tattoos you described it sounds like a creature of the Summer court."

Gojyo raised an arm to shut the guy up, "I don't need to know the bastard's life story. I just need to know two things: how do I kill him, and how do I kill him?"

"The fae have an allergy to iron."

Gojyo nodded as he took a heavy drag on his cigarette, "Right. That explains why his skin treated the shakujo white hot. But that doesn't do jack shit, this guy just brushed it off."

"Trolls have unbelievable resistance to pain."

Gojyo through his arms up in the air in an exasperated motion, "Of _course_ they do."

Suddenly Gat pulled out his guns and stared into the shadows of the surrounding forest, "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

When Gojyo was sitting there in semi-alert confusion something hit Hakuryu with enough force to send the Jeep toppling over and spilling his cargo on the ground.

VVVVV

Hazel was falling asleep by the time the doctor came up from his office. He blinked awake almost immediately and rose to greet the doctor, who was currently rubbing his hands. Which were probably sore from hours of working on the Sanzo priest.

"Well," The doctor began, "I found the sources of the bleeding. But I'm afraid he's lost a lot of blood. And I've barely even started on his legs yet. There's still the chance of a clot forming."

"Do you have a clearer idea of his chances?"

"…Yes. Seventy-thirty."

"That he'll live?"

The doctor slowly shook his head.

Hazel gave a warm smile. "I understand…"

The older man gave a smile back, "I'm not ready to give up. As it is he should be dead. I think that if anyone's not a lost cause it's this boy."

_If only you knew 'em, suh…_

"Sanzo!" A cry came from the room they had set aside for Goku.

Hazel sighed, the boy was just like a child: calling for his daddy after a nightmare. Of course Hazel very much doubted Sanzo was Goku's biological father, but their relationship was very much like that of an unwilling father and son. Still, with Sanzo unconscious Hazel supposed he was the closest thing to a familiar face in the near vicinity. Although he really didn't want to be in the same room when he was told of Sanzo's condition.

"Sanzo!"

"Goku?"

"Hazel?"

"Right there, now you'll have to be quiet, some people are sleepin'."

"What happened to Sanzo!"

"I'm not entirely sure…" Which was true.

Goku had the most perplexed, mixed with anger and shock, "You bastard! Stop foollin' around and turn on the lights."

Hazel paused, it was his turn to be perplexed, "Umm…Goku, I fear the lights are on."

Goku looked in his direction, an almost heartbreaking look of shock and hurt on his face, "Then why can't I see?"

VVVVV

Gojyo woke up…again. He'd really have to stop passing out over the littlest bumps to the-

_Oww. Holy shit! Why does my head hurt so much?_

On second thought, why did his wrists hurt so much? Gojyo looked up to see a chain wrapped around his wrists, draped over a tree and managing to hold him entirely off the ground. Gojyo was a heavy guy, and needless to say it was massively uncomfortable to have a chain wrapped around his wrists.

His feet were tied together at the ankles too, tightly.

The half-breed glanced around, spying Gat laying in a circle of chalk powder. "Hey!" He whispered hastily, "Gat? Gat? Wake-umph!"

Gojyo was cut off as a massive fist planted itself in his stomach. The air flew from his lungs in a painful grunt. His nerves shot with widespread pain; going all the way from his lower chest to stomach. He looked up to see that troll-bastard's eyes staring back at him. "Hello again, little man."

"I love you too- ahh gods!" Gojyo was cut off by another blow from the massive warrior. The first time was hard enough, but it must have tenderized his body or something because it hurt even worse the second time.

"You would be wise to keep smart mouth shut."

_Yeah. He doesn't know anything about a smart mouth. Give the guy a break…_

For once his mouth didn't say what crossed his mind.

However when a third punch connected with his side Gojyo wondered if he actually had said what he was thinking. He couldn't even tell anymore.

"When we no longer need it, I shall cut your tongue out."

The only reason Gojyo didn't say something again was that he could barely breathe, much less talk.

_So…on top of loosing my best friend, still dealing with the guilt of that by the way, finding my other friend injured and dying, finding out that Bishop freakin' Hazel's nearby. I'm also gonna get tortured!. And not even the erotic, sexy kind of torture with a hot woman behind it all…_

Almost as soon as he thought it, a woman strode into the clearing. All in black leather and high heels that must have been uncomfortable. Lets not forget pale skin, and hair so dark Gojyo would be money light couldn't escape its grasp.

"Hello, Sha Gojyo…" She said silkily, slinking up to him. God, Gojyo couldn't remember the last time a woman had _slinked_ up to him. "I'm sure we can make some sort of…arrangement."

Well. Maybe his day wasn't going so bad after all.

VVVVV Chapter end

AN: NO! This will not be a Mary Sue thing! She. Is. Evil! I swear to all that is holy she is evil. Please, review and stay tuned for the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

One Man Army

Gojyo's first thought was that Houtou Castle had finally sent a good lookin' assassin. But that was when something else hit him, he didn't get a hint of demonic vibe from this woman. Although that could just be the concussion mucking all his senses up. The way his day was going he didn't even trust his senses not to go haywire on him. Still, he decided to use some of his charm to get information, "Mmm…I love it when a sexy lady talks about _arrangements_. Is there a name to this beauty?"

"Cait Nen Sidhe."

Gojyo snorted automatically, "What the hell kind of name is that?"

Well, if anything he found out the lady liked her name. Her eyes flared with inhuman light, the pupils shrinking to catlike slits. And the next thing Sha Gojyo knew every nerve in his body was flaring with fiery pain. He was unable to contain the short howl that tore itself free from his lips. "…Nice trick," He rasped once the pain subsided some.

Sidhe smirked, "That's just a taste of what I'm capable of."

"You have no idea how many times I've heard that."

She placed a hand on his stomach, again her eyes glowed, and Gojyo was just bracing himself for more pain when…pleasure. Unbelievable pleasure flowed through him like warm alcohol had replaced his blood. "But how many of those times has it been true?"

Gojyo couldn't contain a smile as the warm feeling filled his stomach and chest, easing the steady ache from where gigantor had punched him. Even the pain in is wrists and head stopped throbbing. He was about to reply when naturally Gat woke up and opened his equally huge mouth.

"Faerie!" he snarled.

She sighed, as though annoyed, "_Sidhe_. Not faerie."

Gat ignored her, "Gojyo! She is of the Fae, do not make a deal with her!"

Sidhe waved a hand in his direction, "Quiet. Our respective peoples have an agreement. Unless you want that deal severed you'll be silent."

Oh, so Sidhe was a race name or something? Gojyo was focused on Gat though, who still wasn't coming to his aid despite…chalk? "Uh…I can see why chalk can be so tricky, but any chance you could hop out and give me a hand?"

"Oh," Sidhe said, "There won't be any trouble from him. That circle won't let magical beings cross it. And he wouldn't would he? Honor bound and what not. It's really just us now."

Gojyo bit his lip. The "sidhe" or "faerie" or whatever the fuck she was had backup in the form of a troll. Why couldn't he have his backup? Gojyo supposed this just meant he'd have to wing it by himself…again. "So uh…what kind of deal were you thinking?"

She gave him a quick, seductive smile as her hand went lower on his body, "I'm sure we can work something out…Just hand over the scripture and I will show you ecstasy that no mortal woman can give you…"

Oh that sounded good. That sounded really good. Gojyo had never done it with a faerie before. A supernatural creature like her must have picked up some pretty interesting bedroom tricks in her day…

Gojyo mentally smacked himself with a paper fan. No. He was not just seriously considering handing over the Maten Scripture to this loony assassin. That's just what she was, Gyumaoh's assassin in a gorgeous package.

But he'd had such a lousy day…Hakkai had died for the sake of that goddamned scripture. All the suffering he'd endured on this entire freakin' vacation from hell was all because of the Maten Scripture. Sanzo was dying anyway, chances were he wouldn't have to take any crap from the monk. And Goku would be too busy mourning Sanzo to even miss the scripture. So, in return for getting rid of this ginormous headache he'd get to lay down beside some beautiful female that promised to give him sex the likes of which he'd never seen.

For a moment, it sounded like a really good idea.

But only for a moment. Then when he came to his senses he mentally shot at himself. Stupid monk, now he was starting to mentally punish himself the same way that Sanzo punished him in reality.

There was no way in hell he had the heart to do that. All the crap they'd been through was because of the scripture, but wasn't that just more reason to hold onto it? Gojyo also knew he couldn't live with himself for betraying his friends, living or dead, like that. He was disgusted to think he'd even considered how he could get away with it.

Stupid conscience…

"Mmm. No thanks, sweetheart. I like my sexual partners to have some kind of internal beauty to them. And frankly some hussy selling herself for a scripture doesn't count."

He saw rage flare in her green eyes. Then as another shock of pain ran rampant through his body. Again he screamed, and this time it lasted longer.

"Damn…" She cursed, "I'd been told you have low moral standards…oh well, you weren't that good looking anyway."

"Hey, lady. Insult the person, don't insult the packaging!"

She got a thoughtful look on her face, "You don't seem to be in a position to make demands. So? Do I need to go over the usual dance? Or can we just jump to the part where you hand the scripture over."

"Let me put it like this: kiss my ass."

Sidhe made a sound that was very close to purring, "I'm afraid you missed your chance for that…Now, give me the scripture, or you die."

It was then that her hands shot up to his face, and another blast akin to an electric jolt assaulted him.

VVVVV

Goku didn't like the darkness. It was just like when he was in his cage, only he knew he wasn't. And this time there was no barrier that he could see the sun out of, it was just the darkness. He couldn't see an end in sight either. Nothing. Just nothing. The sounds were loud, the unfamiliar smells abrasive to his nostrils. The only scent he recognized was Hazel, and that was a scent he didn't like. He smelled like death mixed with wine and weird spices. And there was another person, who smelled like antibiotics and strange smelling soap.

He could hear soft humming coming from the room next to his. A woman singing a child goodnight it sounded like. But in this room he could hear the heartbeats of Hazel and the other man like they were drums. Hazel's heartbeat was a little more steady than the other man, like he was so sure that Goku wouldn't hurt him. And Goku wouldn't.

But then he picked up two more scents in the room. It was nearly entirely hidden by the antibiotic and soap stench, but it was there.

Sanzo. He could smell Sanzo…and blood.

"Hazel! Where's Sanzo! What's wrong with my eyes!"

The other man's voice spoke up, "Oh no…there must have been more brain damage than I originally thought."

"What are you two talking about? Are you talking about Sanzo?"

"Could you leave us be for a second?" For a moment Goku thought Hazel was talking to him, but he then thought that that didn't make much sense. His thoughts were confirmed as the other man left.

"Now, Goku. You took a little bump to the head…and it's interferin' with your sight. I'm gonna talk to the doctor to see what can be done about it…but you have to stay calm."

A cold claw griped Goku's heart, why wouldn't Hazel mention Sanzo, that couldn't be good. Goku hated not being able to see, especially if it meant he'd never be able to see the sun again, but if he could never hear his friend's voice again either… "Where's Sanzo."

There was a quickening of Hazel's heart rate. That told Goku too much, none of it good. "Well," Hazel began, "He's fightin'…"

"What happened to him?"

"I'm afraid I don't specifically know what did it too him…but there was some internal bleeding…and his legs ain't doin' so good. Nurse says he might have a limp for the rest of his life…"

"But he'll be alright right?"

"…I don't know…Now, I was hopin' you might be able to clear up what's goin' on."

"Well," Goku began, "There was a demon warlord that was causing the town trouble. It was right on our way so we raided the citadel. Then the bastard sucker-punched me…and I woke up like this. Where's Gojyo and Hakkai?"

"Again. Not sure. I sent Gat back in the direction that little Jeep of yours came from."

VVVVV

Hazel was amazed, just listening to the boy. Here he'd been told why he lost his sight and all he could think about was the welfare of others. Goku was certainly no ordinary demon. He pitied the boy too, it was clear it was all he could do to keep from crying. "I have to go now. I'll be back with some food for you if you'd like."

"Oh…okay…"

Hazel left the boy to his own thoughts, closed the door behind him and approached the doctor, "So what will become of him?"

"I don't know. The brain is a tricky thing. His sight could return with a matter of healing or he could be blind for the rest of his life."

Hazel gave a smile, "Thank you. I understand that you can only do so much…"

"Got that right…" The doctor said more to himself than to Hazel, "But, if there was a chi gong healer around they might be able to do more for Goku."

Hazel smiled again, more genuine, "That's right fortune that seems to be shinin' on us if that's the case…I'll leave for a walk, if you don't mind."

The doctor blinked, "Oh…by all means Bishop."

The priest picked up his hat as he made his way down the stairs. Those people, if nothing else, taught him not to take life without so much as a second thought. His master always told him growth was a part of life, so he supposed he owed them. Besides, maybe it would make them a little more inclined to sit down with him for a drink if he provided enough assistance now.

VVVVV Chapter End

AN: Okay. Cavalry's on the way. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a fantasy book fan, and I thought a faerie would be a more interesting opponent then your run of the mill demon. Also, I ask you to hold tight if your waning in faith, there's a twist coming your way next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

One Man Army

Gojyo hurt like hell. He hurt in places he didn't even know he had.

No. That wasn't entirely true. One of their great exploits had been in a desert, first buried alive under four tons of sand then fighting the Seiten Taisei on the surface. Back then he got sand in places he didn't even know he had, and now he hurt in those places.

Whatever this Sidhe bitch was doing to him, it spread through his entire body. Like it was traveling along his nervous system or something. Maybe some kind of control over electricity? It wasn't uncommon for demons to have elemental powers, they were few and far between, but out there. Kougaiji for example had control over the fire element.

But Sidhe here was definitely not a demon, he was judging her by the wrong set of rules. Besides, what good did it do to think of it like that anyway? It was clear she had control over more powerful magics than just electricity, the way she'd also shown him pleasure. But hadn't Hakkai said something about how it was electrical impulses on the body? Maybe she was-

_No. No. No. Too many maybes, not enough certainties. I like certainties. And seeing as how I don't know jack shit about the nervous system, or faeries for that matter, I can't be certain about anything._

All the while Gat sat there, watching the torture play out and not even attempting to stop it. It seemed as though he couldn't because of some kind of preexisting deal, that would explain why he knew all that stuff about faeries and trolls. In any case, Gojyo was in hot water. Kind of like that old wives tale about how if you put a frog in comfortable water and slowly turn up the temperature the frog will just stay in there until he roasted.

Although in Gojyo's case it had turned up so fast by the time the water was hot it was too late to get out. And if previous experiences in his life were anything to go by the water was going to get a _lot_ hotter.

"Where is the scripture?"

"Mmm. Nowhere. Actually there is no scripture. It's all a big hoax."

Sidhe gave a twisted smile, "You know the longer you draw this out the longer your pain will last."

"Yeah, yeah…same ol' same ol'. You guys should really hire new writers."

Another electric jolt shot through him he couldn't hold back a short yelp of pain. "Damnit! You know that hurts _everywhere _right?"

"That's the idea…do I need to ask the question again or are you smart enough to answer this time?"

"I've answered every time."

"Not the right answer."

"Ah, but I have answered."

Pain, closely followed by pain.

_Buy one get one free._

Gojyo had actually bitten his tongue that last time, as a result he had to spit a tiny bit of blood from his mouth. He did it subconsciously.

The universe conspired against him. A small bit of the blood landed on Sidhe's leather boots, marring the ebony surface. She looked down at them, then up at him again. For a thousandth time that day, someone looked at him like they wanted to impale him on something tall and splinter-filled.

_Oh great, asshole is now a reflex for me._

Her hand shot up to his neck. On the bright side it took the weight off his wrists, on the sad side he couldn't breath at all. She was now officially the second person to strangle him in one day, the record was four.

"You insolent fool!" She squeezed, even though it wasn't necessary at all. Her eyes had a new gleam to them, like the veil she'd been using was cracking under her sudden anger. Gojyo's subconscious should have known that you don't spit on a lady's shoes, no matter how much of an asshole you can't help being. "You mortals, you're all the same. Vermin, "cattle" to the vampires, but not much more. Human, demon, you're all useless animals…this is the last time I'll ask you: give me the scripture, or I snap your neck right now."

Gojyo didn't doubt she could. How a tiny woman could have so much physical strength was beyond him. For once, he kept his mouth shut while he thought. If he didn't hand over the scripture in his pocket she was going to kill him right then and there. There was that spitfire, torpedoes-be-damned part of him that wanted to tell her to go to hell. But then there was that reasonable part of him that was scared shitless to die.

"_You can run away if you want. Your death won't change anything. But alive you can still make a difference."_

Gojyo smiled softly. Stupid monk. Gojyo would use that against him when he complained about handing over the Maten Scripture. If he died now, there was no way he'd be able to get it back.

Almost as soon as he came to his decision, Sidhe dropped him. Even from that short distance, the shock to his wrists was enough to make him wince. "Well?" She asked.

Gojyo sighed, knowing very well there was a chance he'd never be able to get the scripture back. Once he handed it to that woman. "Alright," He said, "Alright. It's in the inside of my jacket, lower pocket, left side."

Sidhe hesitated to give him a look, as if questioning the validity of his statement. After a moment, she reached inside, exactly where he'd told her. She jerked it out, "I didn't think you'd be enough of an idiot to keep it on you…"

She trailed off, looking at the Maten Scripture. Her face first became shock, then anger, "What is this shit?" She hissed.

"Uh…come again?"

"This isn't the Scripture."

"Sweetheart, that's the only scripture I have. Scout's honor. Isn't that what you're after? Founding scripture of heaven and earth? Power to shatter darkness? Any of this ring a bell?"

Again, Sidhe glared at him, narrowed pupils burning hatred. More pain shot through him this time, so much that he was sure he was going to black out, or have an aneurysm or something.

"What was that for? I'm telling the truth you nutcase!"

"I know, you're too much of an idiot to lie believably. That was out of spite."

"Gee…" he rasped, "At least you're not twofaced or anything."

"Our of all the beings I've met in my life, you are by far the least tolerable."

Gojyo smiled despite himself, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Sidhe dropped the Maten Scripture to the ground, "I suppose I'll have to visit Freydir myself," She turned to the troll, "Unghre: kill him."

The monster-man grinned devilishly, "Gladly."

Gojyo thought quickly as Sidhe walked away from him, and Unghre walked towards him. "Hey! Wait! I heard somewhere you faeries love deals and shit right?"

Sidhe stopped, "…In five words or less."

"I. Can. Get. Your. Scripture."

"…Heel. Unghre." She told the troll, "I'm interested. Let me guess: you're life for what I'm looking for?"

"That's _exactly_ what I was thinking."

Sidhe was considering his option. Staring at him, attempting to tell whether or not he was lying. "So you have it?"

"I never said that, but I can get it. Just show me who's head to knock with who's."

Her face was a mask again, thinking, considering. "Very well…the scripture I seek is a scripture written by the most ancient of sidhe. You do not need to know it's meaning or purpose. My sources said it was in the custody of a half-breed in this area…who is working for a half-sidhe…The rules of our deal shall be simple: find what I want and deliver it to me by dawn and I shall spare your life."

"Deal." Everything there fit, now that she told him her reasons. Sanzo looked beautifully supernatural, Gojyo was straight and even he admitted it, the priest could have very easily been half-faerie. And…there was no denying Gojyo's own heritage. Easy to believe she'd made a mistake. "So, where can I find them?"

Sidhe raised an eyebrow, "I don't recall any part of the deal saying that I have to aid you in your quest to find it?"

"You want it don't you?"

"Oh I do, but watching you struggle to find it by dawn will be far more entertaining that torturing it out of some other idiot…"

Other idiot? I'm not going to comment on that… 

"Well," Gojyo tempted, "Aren't you at least going to cut me down? Hey! Hey I'm talking to you!"

Before she disappeared into the shadows she turned around and looked at her watch, "Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock…only about six hours until dawn." With that she walked away.

As he hung there, everything aching something fierce, he realized how hot the water had just become. And as every second brought him closer to sunrise the water kept increasing in heat…For a moment, the colossal shit he'd had to deal with over the course of the day threatened to come crashing down on him. He wanted to cry. He just wanted to go out to a bar, then get so drunk that crying would be accepted.

"Gojyo?" Gat said?

"Yeah…" Gojyo said, he didn't really care right then how he sounded or how rude he was.

"I apologize for my inability to assist you."

"Whatever…" Suddenly a sound from the forest made Gojyo's head jerk up. First it was footsteps echoing through the forest. For a second Gojyo thought it was that Sidhe bitch come back to at least cut him down.

_Is that Sidhe? Oh shit, it's just Hazel…I do not want to deal with his shit right now._

Hazel strolled into the clearing, and immediately broke the chalk circle around Gat with the toe of his foot. His blue gaze never leaving Gojyo's…predicament. He had an amused look on his face, and Gojyo knew that if he wasn't glaring death at the bishop he'd be laughing hysterically.

"So…long time no see," Hazel said, barely containing his open laughter.

"For you, Hazel. It's never too long."

"So, what's up lately?"

"Oh, the usual. Find a faerie scripture by dawn otherwise face a death Dante couldn't have imagined…"

"Right, right…How's that going?"

"…Not so great."

VVVVV Chapter end.

AN: Okay. That was the twist I promised, not your run of the mill "Give us the scripture" thing. Well, she certainly isn't a demon or anything, so I figured I had to do something different. Please, R&R.


	7. Chapter 7

Dislcaimer: I do not own Saiyuki or anything else that anybody in the known universe could sue me for. I own nothing.

AN: Okay. Sorry. But I've been wrestling with other ideas trying to force myself to finish up this story before I post anything else.

One Man Army

When the first, disgusting, wave of cigarette smoke flowed through his throat Gojyo took great pleasure in knowing that the desperately needed nicotine buzz was only a few minutes away. Gojyo had been smoking since he was about twelve, and he could only remember a few times in which he needed it so.

Goku was blind. Goku was _blind_. The very thought made Gojyo sick. The little brat loved life more than any of them. Seeing was a big part of living. Next to talking Gojyo figured seeing things was Goku's favorite thing. Goku was just so sad; being worried about Sanzo didn't help anything.

And to add to Gojyo's shit list Hazel hadn't told Goku anything about Sanzo's condition. That left Gojyo to deliver the bad news.

"What if he dies?" Goku had asked.

Gojyo had looked up, just feeling even worse than he did before, "Wha?"

"What if he dies? Then I won't be able to feel the sun either? Then...this'll be even worse..."

Now, Gojyo was the first to admit he wasn't the brightest guy in the world, or that Goku had the tendency to not make sense...but at the same time, in a childish way, Goku made perfect sense. If Sanzo died then Goku would feel alone, just like he was in the cage. Gojyo didn't take it personally; Goku loved Sanzo. Not in a romantic way. Definitely familial in nature. That was the best way Gojyo could think of to describe it. It was a natural reaction to be focused on the injured person that you care for.

Besides, Gojyo figured that as long as Goku was focused on Sanzo he wouldn't ask about Hakkai.

For the thousandth time that night he was wrong as hell...

"Gojyo? Where's Hakkai?"

Gojyo didn't know why he didn't say anything. It would have been an easy thing to say to simply tell the younger man. A movement of lips, a little air exhaled. A simple, simple task that he performed everyday (usually a little more per-day than was healthy).

But for some reason, talking had never felt so hard.

Gojyo had simply risen to his feet and walked out the door into the living room. Where the doctor's daughter had chastised him for smoking near her son. Gojyo understood her need to protect her son. Besides, she'd patched him up pretty good, the least he could do was spare them of his second-hand smoke. Also, on his way out he stopped to pour a cup of water on Hazel's head, for not telling Goku the details of Sanzo's condition before.

As for Sanzo the doctor was still working on him...

And of course there was still the issue of finding that faerie scripture. Which, by the way, he still didn't have a fucking clue about.

Well, that wasn't entirely true; he had what Sidhe had said about how it was in the possession of another faerie and a half-breed in the area. There was a chance the information she got was completely wrong, but it was the only thing he had to go on.

But despite all the stress and responsibility that had been thrust upon him, he still found the time to go outside, sit on a porch, and smoke like there was no tomorrow. Which could very well be the case if he didn't stop wasting time smoking.

That was when he heard the rustle of silk that he usually associated with Sanzo. Uncontrollably, that's what he thought at first. Only for a second though, before his conscious caught up with his subconscious. And he realized it was just Hazel...the quick hope turned to dull irritation. As if his life wasn't going shitty enough! He had to deal with the psycho bishop too...

"So? Do you have some kind of plan?"

"Well. First I'm gonna take fifty Vicodin. Then I'm gonna go to the nearest bar and get cowboy drunk. Then if I'm still alive by then I plan to take fifty _more_ Vicodin and develop a plan."

"Can you be serious for three minutes?"

"Yep. But I used them up when I went to see Goku..."

"I know...I ain't too fond of your kind, but seein' the poor little fella like that was awfully heartbreakin'."

Gojyo scoffed, "I haven't even told him about Hakkai yet."

"Are you sure that's wise?" 

"You know..." Gojyo growled as he struggled with the desire to break that pretty arm in three places. That hypocritical son of a bitch! He didn't even have the balls to tell Goku about Sanzo, and here he was acting like Gojyo was in the wrong!

He shoved the anger back down to whatever hole it crawled out of. Getting into another argument of morals with Hazel wouldn't help anything. Besides, it wasn't like he was much better than the jack preacher. Wasn't it he who didn't have the balls to tell Goku about Hakkai? And perhaps Hazel's asshole-ness was slightly justified, Gojyo _had_ dumped water on him...

Gojyo took a long drag on his cigarette. Not caring about the deadly smoke that filled his lungs, only the nicotine buzz that would soon follow.

Hazel remained quiet as the two men stared out at the night from the front porch. It seemed the clouds from earlier had long ago cleared away. Leaving moonlight to illuminate their little corner of the world. "So..." Gojyo said after a while, "What can you tell me about these faeries?"

"They're far more common where I come from. As a matter of fact almost everyone who's delved in magic arts comes across them at one point or another. I've encountered them myself...not very pleasant encounters, mind you," Hazel gave an exaggerated cough as the wind shifted, and moved upwind of Gojyo's smoke. Gojyo ignored it, although the over-dramatic cough had come dangerously close to pissing him off.

_Damn...this guy just had to show up on the night when my fuse is probably at its shortest. It's like the gods are just taunting me..._

"Uh huh," Gojyo said, "Details, man. Gimme the details."

"The dimension they come from is called Fae. The touch of iron is their weakness. They can't lie, and a deal with one of them is binding."

"Well, what happens if you break it?"

"Oh," Hazel said a little cheerier than necessary, "You die."

"Okay. Deals. Big no-no. Got it. Now this thing about them not being able to lie is interesting..."

"They can't lie. But they're right cunnin' bastards. They've mastered that particular curse...Wordin' when it comes to deals is important. Every word matters when a deal is made."

Gojyo nodded. That made sense. "And what about that name. Cait Nen Sidhe?"

"_Sidhe_ are the highest nobles of Fae. They're elegant, beautiful, more like yer classic version of _elven_ than a faerie. Out of the two courts, Summer and Winter, there are five from each that carry the surname "Nen Sidhe". The Queen, her two advisors, her mage, and her heir apparent."

"So it's a monarchy?"

"Very much so."

Okay. That was a little more than he needed to know. A nice bit of trivia, maybe. But otherwise useless. Now, onto a subject he was very curious about. "Okay. What about the troll? My weapon's made of iron and it didn't do anything to stop him."

"They are very resistant to pain. Their muscles are as good as any armor. And they're strong..."

Gojyo fingered the growing bruise on his neck, "Yeah. Tell me about it...One more question. Why couldn't Gat do anything to stop her during the Torture Double Feature?"

"He can't. His people have a preexisting deal with Fae. They don't interfere with the affairs of Fae and in return growth of their crops is granted all year long."

Nodding to himself Gojyo processed the information. It was all nice and dandy to store away for future use, but it didn't seem to help his current situation much...

With a sigh he extinguished his cigarette on the porch. This night was turning from bad to worse. Sanzo was out, Goku was out, Hakkai was out for the count. And now he couldn't rely on the gun-wielding bodyguard either. That left only one feasible source of backup for this insane little mission:

Hazel Grouse.

God that was such a shitty idea! The priest's subtle remarks were even worse than Sanzo's blunt distain. Every other word out of his mouth seemed to be an insult thinly veiled by an airhead persona.

But none of that changed the fact that right then Hazel was the best he could do. Not only did the priest seem to have background knowledge of these faeries, and to have already dealt with them on other occasions, but there was also that kick oriented combat style. Gojyo had once seen the human easily match Hakkai in hand-to-hand, and he was easily as acrobatic as Goku.

The pros of taking Hazel along with him won out. Yes, it would be annoying as hell. But Gojyo really liked the idea of living to regret his decision. So if his pride had to take a couple hits for the team then that was fine by him.

Gojyo sucked his cigarette down to the filter before flicking it to the ground. He wouldn't openly ask Hazel's assistance, but it was clear the bishop wanted to come along anyway. Otherwise he'd be inside shouting, or praying or whatever the hell it was he did. "Well," Gojyo said, "I figure I'll start at the information mainframe for the entire community. Everyone goes there, gossipers and loose-lipped snitches included. And I'm sure some word's got out about a guy with faerie blood and a half demon. People like that tend to stand out."

The bishop nodded, "And where, pray tell, might that be at?"

Gojyo shot him a quick smirk, "The bar. What else?"

VVVVV

The only bar in the area was a small but well kept tavern. Illuminated almost entirely by lamp and candlelight. It cast a warm glow around the place that reflected off the amber wood all around them. Gojyo's first thought was that it was an inherently bad idea to have: candles, booze, and a building made out of wood. But all the same it gave the air a calming atmosphere. Not the kind of place you'd think someone would want to get violent in. Dark so it was easy on the eyes, but still well lit.

It was late at night, so there weren't many people there. The only exception being a middle-aged man. Long since passed out at a table with a half-empty bottle of whiskey still clutched in his hand. Ouch, Gojyo'd been there a time or two.

That was when he saw her. Standing behind the bar she was busy cleaning glasses. She was pretty, really pretty. With a mass of dark hair pulled up into a loose ponytail, with facial features that could only be described as 'cute'. She was classic girl-next-door look. But, she had an air about her too. Like she was on the side of the world-weary folks such as himself.

Just his kind of lady.

Confidently he strode up to the bar and sat down, "Hi." He said simply and politely.

"Hey..." She said, looking up from cleaning glasses.

"You closed?"

"Not yet. What can I get you fine gentlemen?" She said in a voice that was almost a throaty purr.

She was just like every bartender Gojyo had ever met. Calm and carrying a kind of quiet that would allow her to listen in on all kinds of conversations that would go on in a bar. "You got vodka?" Gojyo asked.

She snorted, "Take a guess."

"Right, sorry...it gets so late at night and my brain drifts towards the "ditz" lane."

"Amen to that..." she whispered, quietly. "Anything for your friend?"

Gojyo was about to reflexively claim that he was not, indeed, friends with Hazel. For once that night he actually managed to bite his tongue and keep it from getting him into trouble.

Instead, Hazel spoke with a soft, charming smile. "Four shots of whiskey if you will..."

Gojyo almost laughed, "I thought you could only take that Red Wine o' yours?"

"Yes, I do prefer a glass of wine to anything else...but considerin' I'll be spendin' all night with _you _I'm sure I'll need somethin' a little stronger to get me by."

_Asshole..._

"You folks just passing through?" The bartender asked, in that sultry voice. It was just the kind of voice Gojyo could easily imagine calling his name-

_Focus, moron! Focus!_

"Yes. I recon you could say that..."

She poured their drinks, "What brings you to a town like this?"

"Shit happened..." Gojyo said. "Though the real question is what's a gorgeous thing like you doing in a place like this?"

She gave him a wry smile, "Shit happened..."

The both of them shared a quick laugh as she poured him a glass of vodka and put it behind the counter. "Well, sweetheart, I'm sure you've got a name..."

She glanced up quickly, as if evaluating him. Gojyo didn't blame her, if he was a pretty girl working in a place where people got drunk, he'd want to think twice about handing over his name to some dashing rogue.

"Sulin," She said after a moment.

"Well, hello, Sulin." He downed a sip of the drink, "So tell me Sulin. I bet weird shit happens around here all the time. Little town like this? I'm sure you've got some strange local legends."

"There's supposed to be a ghost that haunts the old bridge. Aside from that nothing immediately leaps to mind."

Gojyo was contemplating whether or not to specifically ask about faeries or demon activity, when Hazel made the decision for him. "Faeries dear, we're talkin' 'bout faeries."

Amazingly, that invoked the strongest response out of her all night. She went stiff the second the word left Hazel's mouth. But only for a heartbeat. If Gojyo had blinked he would have missed it.

"Don't be silly, faeries aren't real."

Gojyo hoped his disappointment wasn't too obvious. Damn, he was really hoping to get lucky after he saved his own ass, and here he goes and finds that the prettiest girl in town's lying to him. Never a good way to start off a relationship, even a one-night one. On the bright side at least he had a lead to go on now.

He and Hazel both finished their drinks, warmly chatting with Sulin as they went. Hazel paid for them, once it was realized that Gojyo didn't have the Sanbushin's credit card on him. It had to be handed to the bishop, he was cool from the standpoint that he could continue to have a conversation with someone after it was very clear that they were lying to you.

After paying for their drinks they left, as soon as they were out of earshot of the bar Hazel was the first to speak, as Gojyo lit up yet another cigarette. The fact that it bugged Hazel made it taste all the sweeter. "So, what do you think?" He asked.

"She knows something..." Gojyo took note of how cool it was that he managed to hit a bull's eye first try.

"It's a place to start."

"So, let me guess, we wait for her to leave."

"Yep, she's a lead," Gojyo blew out a mouthful of smoke into Hazel's face, "So lets see where she leads us."

VVVVV Chapter End

AN: Alright. I know this chapter was a little boring. Anyway, I promise Gojyo's day will get bad again with the next chapter. Stay tuned. R&R


End file.
